Teagasc applying to field test GM potatoes
as part of EU Research Study

27 February 2012

Teagasc are applying to the EPA for a licence
to undertake a series of field studies using GM
potatoes resistant to potato late blight disease
to determine the potential impact this
technology could have on our ecosystems. As part
of the 22 partner ‘AMIGA’ consortium that
represents 15 EU countries and is funded through
the EU’s Framework 7 research programme, Teagasc
propose to carry out the research over the next
4 years. Pending license approval, the work will
take place at the Teagasc Crops Research Centre
in Oak Park, Carlow.

Research confirms that GM late blight
resistant potatoes have the potential to
significantly reduce the fungicide load on the
environment and hence provide an economic
advantage to farmers. Teagasc researcher Dr.
Ewen Mullins said: “It is not enough to simply
look at the benefits without also considering
the potential costs. We need to investigate
whether there are long term impacts associated
with this specific GM crop and critically we
need to gauge how the late blight disease itself
responds. This is not just a question being
asked in Ireland. The same issues are arising
across Europe.”

After decimating the Irish potato crop in the
1840s and sparking the Great Famine, the
organism (Phytophthora infestans) which
causes late blight disease remains a very real
threat to Irish potato growers. As new, more
aggressive strains of the pathogen have arrived
in Ireland over the last 4 years, farmers have
had to adapt by increasing the amount of
fungicides applied but this is not sustainable;
especially in light of new EU laws designed to
reduce the amount of chemicals that are applied
on our crops.

While the agronomic and economic benefits of
using GM to deliver novel control strategies for
late blight disease are clear, the intractable
debate that has taken place between the
proponents and opponents of GM, continues to
highlight the public’s wish for further,
impartial information on the potential impact of
GM crops in Ireland.

In response Teagasc will also conduct an
outreach programme with stakeholders and the
public through focus groups and open days, to
facilitate an inclusive and impartial discussion
on the issues that most concern people.

Head of crops research in Teagasc John Spink
said: “The field study will be isolated from the
on-going conventional potato breeding programme
that has been successfully running at Oak Park
for over 40 years and with no linkage to the
biotech industry on this matter, Teagasc are
clear that their work is not about testing the
commercial viability of GM potatoes. The GM
study is about gauging the environmental impact
of growing GM potatoes in Ireland and monitoring
how the pathogen, which causes blight, and the
ecosystem reacts to GM varieties in the field
over several seasons.”